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Hi, Rusty!
I hadn't thought to ask what your headstone is made of?
That might make a difference as to what you use to clean it?
Be careful if you are using any type of brush that it does not scratch the surface......
I haven't personally tried either bleach or vinegar to clean a gravestone...but I do recall my mother using white vinegar to "clean up" at the cemetery.
My memorial stone for my parents is a marble slab....so all I have ever been required to do is wipe it gently with a soft cloth soaked in soapy water (Fairy liquid!)
I have just had another parcel delivered!
All are ahead of the time schedule given ......
I am doing well!

Hello, Ros!
Sorry, I missed your earlier post….
I was only echoing what I recall my mother having used effectively in the past...
I will bow to your superior judgement, as I know you will have had a lot of experience of gravestones in your quest for your ancestral roots!

And regarding Shakespeare…. I studied his works extensively at school - and I loved it!
We used to learn and recite long passages...although I can now only remember fragments.

One of my favourite poems is a " A Torch of Flame " by Sir Henry Newbolt..... I can still recite that , word for word!
Do you know the poem?
https://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/newbolt.htm

Hello Elle and Rusty and everyone!

Rather sunny here and warm at 30C - Pleasant.

Elle, this poems comparison is a real gymnastic!

Every message written by Kipling is there in the French version,
but NOT IN THE SAME ORDER!!
So you must search to find the equivalent message, which of course
is not, as I said yesterday, a word for word translation, but rather
an adaptation of the message.

For example, the French version is written in 8 stanzas instead of the
4 of the English original , each stanza having 4 verse (obviously 8 in English) -
The stanzas are made of three verses of 12 feet each while the fourth one has only 8 feet.
It is a fairly common form of poetry in France.

The rhyming pattern is rigorously every other verse, ie 1 and 3, 2 and 4.

As to the translation/adaptation/re-writing, whatever you choose
to call it, here are a few examples

Verse 1 & 2 of Stanza 1 in Fr = Verse 7 & 8 of Stanza 2 in English

Verse 3 & 4 of Stanza 5 in Fr = Verse 1 & 2 of Stanza 2 in English

Verse 1 & 2 of Stanza 4 in Fr = Verse 1& 2 of Stanza 4 in English

(If I made no mistake !)

If you look at those, you will find that even with some difference/small omissions, the essence of the original message is sent to the French reader in the adaptation.

After all, you enjoy Athletics, don't you ........

As I said earlier, it is a real gymnastic!

Oops, Ros!
Of course the one thing I didn't remember correctly was the title ….
" Vitai Lampada"

Hello, Elle!
Our gravestone is made of granite.
I will have a wee look on YouTube to see if there are any films on how to proceed.
It will be several weeks before I return to the cemetery, though.
Just finished my puzzle.
It's a good one today!

elle-
I have recorded a whole graveyard and parts of several for the general good, as my family's gravestones have largely disappeared. I have only ever found a very few, including one near you! But if what is written on them is not recorded, they will eventually be lost. In some places (Gloucestershire, for example) a copper plate was sometimes fixed to the stone to record the occupant beneath. You can imagine what is happening to those. Slate seems to last the longest and nothing usually grows on it.

No, I haven't read that poem, but I will, thanks. Newbolt went somewhat out of fashion, did he not?

I like the rhythm and sounds of that poem, elle, but definitely not the sentiment/point of view!

Phew I am fed up with blinkin' kapchas over many days now

Hello, Pigale!
Yes, I had noticed that the ideas conveyed by the French translator were all in a different order from Kipling's original poem.....
And as I said before, I DO like the translator's theories....
BUT I still think this is rather to be compared to an art critic advising on an artist's work...and offering up only a personal interpretation......
To me, as the reader, this is an extensive development on what was originally said.
Perhaps it is simply that the essence of an original cannot ever be portrayed in translation....?

Ros,
I think it was largely the rhythm of Vitai Lampada that first appealed to me!
Especially as we always had to speak our poetry out loud at school!
It was good drama!
It has been a few weeks now, since I last had a run-in with Recaptcha!

Good afternoon, Rusty!
I have just spoken on the phone to my elder daughter.....she has confirmed that they will be arriving on Saturday!
Our eldest grandson goes to Secondary school in September.
He attended an Induction day there, just before the end of term, so I am looking forward to hearing all about that in person!
It will be a big change for him, coming from a small village school.....
And younger daughter has just pointed out that YB will be at Primary school in just over a year's time!
Where is time going?
My life is racing away!!
I haven't even started the crossword, yet, Rusty.....
Today has so far been extremely hectic!

Hello, Elle!
Good news about your family arriving, Elle!
Best hit your local Sainsburys!
Get in plenty ice cream!
Time does fly, when you're not looking!
I am feeling quite pleased with myself.
I made a mess of Twitter yesterday, using AdBlock.
Had parts of the page missing etc.
But today I resolved to sort it.
It involved going into AdBlock advanced settings, (I tiptoed my way through it!) and unchecking an instruction that I added yesterday.
Was very pleased that I found it.
Took me a few minutes as I was in uncharted waters and did not want to make things worse.
But.....all is fine, now!